Introduction To Chemical

Engineering

Che 211
Reference Material:
David M. Himmelblau. “Basic Principles and
Calculations in Chemical Engineering”. Prentice Hall
 WHAT IS CHEMICAL ENGINEERING?
• Chemical engineering is the study and practice of the
design and operation of processes for the tangible
improvement of the human condition
• Oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, energy, water treatment,
food and drink, plastics and toiletries.
• Requires a complete and quantitative understanding of
both the engineering and scientific principles
underlying these technological processes.
• Applied mathematics, material and energy balances,
thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, energy and mass
transfer, separations processes, chemical reaction
kinetics and reactor design, and process design
 TYPICAL CHEMICAL PROCESS
Physical chemical Physical
treatment step treatment step treatment step PRODUCTS
RAW
MAT RECYLE

TYPICAL CHEMICAL PROCESS MAY INVOLVE THE FOLLOWING:

Physical treatment steps: UNIT OPERATIONS

Heating Cooling mixing
 washing Distillation
Filtration Drying
Crystallization **CHEMICAL REACTIONS
EACH OF STEPS ARE STUDIED AND APPLIED APPROPRIATELY TO
DIFFERENT MATERIAL AND SITUATIONS
Be a master of many subjects
 FUNCTIONS OF THE CHEMICAL ENGINEER
Chemical engineer is involved in the:
 CONCEPTUALIZATION, DESIGN and CONSTRUCTION
OF CHEMICAL PROCESS PLANTS
 MANAGING/SUPERVISING INDUSTRIAL PLANT
OPERATIONS
• Understands the basis of these operations and how to
handle them
 Preparing reports, feasibility studies and cost
analyses of processes
 Trouble shooting and correcting faults in the day to
day operation of process plants
 Addressing environmental issues
 FUNCTIONS OF THE CHEMICAL ENGINGEER
 RESEARCH-(both EXISTING PROCESSES and NEW
PROCESSES/MATERIALS)
• The role may focus on one or more of the following:
pioneering valuable new materials and techniques,
such as nanotechnology, fuel cells and biomedical
engineering; researching new products from trial
through to commercialization; managing scale-up
processes from plant to full industrial-scale
manufacturing; improving product lines; modifying
the processing plant that produces the products;
and designing and commissioning new plants.
 DIMENSIONS AND UNITS
• Observe/See, Describe, Measure, Compare
• Dimensions are basic concepts of measurement of
physical variables
• Huge man (height/length and mass)
• Huge feverish man (height/length, mass and
temperature)
• Huge feverish man arrived late
– length/height,
– mass and
– temperature
– Time
* ‘Huge’ is not a fundamental measure of the man
 Types of dimensions
• Primary dimensions: basic/fundamental/independent dimensions
• Secondary dimensions are obtained from basic ones.
• The seven primary dimensions:
Dimension Symbol

Mass M

Length L

Time t

Temperature T

Amount of matter n
Amount of light (luminous intensity)
C

Electric Current I
*1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 are often encountered by chemical engineers
 Units
• how do we compare these measures of physical
variables-big, bigger, biggest ?
• units are the means of expressing the dimension
• In order to assign numbers to these primary
dimensions, primary units must be assigned.
• Two systems of units will be considered:
1. International System of Units (SI units: Le Systeme
International d’Unites, or simply called metric units).
2. American Engineering System of Units (English
units)
SI and American Engineering System Units
for Fundamental Dimensions
Primary Dimension SI Unit Am. Eng. Unit

Mass** kilogram (Kg) pound-mass (lbm)

Length** meter (m) foot (ft)

Time** second (s) second (s)

Temperature** Kelvin (K) or Rankine (oR) or

Celcius (oC) Farenheit (oF)
Amount of matter** gram mole (gmole) pound mole (lbmol)

Electric current Ampere (A) Ampere (A)

Amount of light candela (c) candela (c)
(luminous intensity)
 secondary dimensions / secondary
units
•All other dimensions (secondary dimensions) are
derived as combinations of these seven primary dimensions
•Secondary dimensions have secondary units
Quantity Symbol S.I Unit Am. Eng. Unit
Area L2 m ∗ m =m2 ft2
Volume L3 m ∗ m ∗ m = m3 Ft3
Density M / L3 kg/m3 = kg.m-3 lbm.ft-3
Velocity L/t m/s = m.s-1 Ft.s-1
Acceleration L/ t2 (m/s )/s = m/s2 = m.s-2 Ft.s-2
Force M.(L/ t2) kg.(m/s2 ) = kg.m.s-2 lbm.ft.s-2
Pressure M.(L/ t2)/L2 kg/(m.s) lbm/(ft.s)
Energy M.(L/ t2).L kg.(m2/s2) lbm.(ft2/s2)
 Some common DERIVED UNITS

When a derived unit is formed by the multiplication of units, separate

the units joined by a centered dot-e.g. N.m
Dot may be omitted if symbols are separated by exponents-
 Defined Equivalent Units
So that we do not have to carry all of these units around in calculations,
some derived units have been defined in each system

Many derived units often named after scientists

Newton (N); Pascal(Pa); Joule (J); watt (W)
Prefixes :Their Names, Symbols, And Factors
 Prefixes e.g.
• kilo second, kilometer, or kilogram, respectively.
• Also as ks, km, or kg respectively. So,
• 1000 seconds = 1×103s = 1 kilo second = 1 ks
• kilo- represents multiple of a thousand, and
• milli- represents multiples of a thousandth, so
• kilo = 1 000 = 103 ; milli = 0.001 = 10-3
• Gm=109 m ; fm=10-15 m dm=0.1 m
• Watch out for cases like this;
 Unit of Measurement
• A unit of measurement is a standardised quantity of a
physical property -defined and adopted by convention or by
law:
For example
• length is a physical quantity. The metre is a unit of length
that represents a definite predetermined length. 10 metres
(or 10 m), we actually mean 10 times the length called
"metre".
• importance?
• To reduce the incidence of retail fraud
for example: 1 kg of rice in Kano=1 kg of rice in Aba
• Enable comparisons of quantities
• It diminishes the possibility of unintentional inversion of
any portion of the calculation.
• It reduces the calculation in many cases to simple ratios ,
which can be easily manipulated on a hand-held calculator.
• It reduces the intermediate calculations and
eliminates considerable time in problem
solving .
• It enables you to approach the problem
logically rather than by remembering a
formula and plugging numbers into the
formula.
• It demonstrates the physical meaning of the
numbers you use.
• 1 kg = 1000 g ; 1 g = 1000 mg
• Hence 1kg/1000g = 1 ; 1000g/1kg = 1
• Hence 1g/1000mg = 1; 1000mg/1 g = 1
• We can multiply any quantity by 1 and not change
its value.
• Hence by choosing appropriate ratio with a value
of 1, conversions are readily done.eg
• 10 kg=10 kg x1=10 kg x 1000 g/1kg=10 000 g
• Choice is one that leads to desired units
• 10 kg=10 kg x1=10 kg x 1g/1000mg=?
• -wrong choice of 1
 •For conversion of units we will be making use of what is called
the dimensional equation.
•One quantity will be appropriately multiplied by a number of
ratios termed conversion factors to arrive at the final desired
answer.
•The ratios used are simple well-known values and thus the conversion
itself should present no great problem
Example1: Convert the speed of sound (1100 ft/ s) into miles per hour
5280 ft=1 mile 5280 ft/1 mile=1 1 mile/5280 ft=1
60 s= 1 min 60 min=1 hour 1 hour/60 min=1
60 s/ 1 min=1 60 min/1 hour=1 1 min/ 60 s =1

•We have set up the dimensional equation with vertical lines to

separate each ratio,
• These vertical lines retain the same meaning as an X or multiplication
sign placed between each ratio
Example2: Convert the following quantities to the ones
designated :
a. 42 ft2/hr to cm2/s. b. 100 Btu to hp-hr.
Solution
a. 42.0 ft2/hr
Since 1.0 m=3.2808 ft >> 1.0 m/3.2808 ft=1 and 3.2808 ft/1.0 m=1
Since 1.0 m=100cm >> 1.0 m/100cm=1 and 100cm/1.0 m=1
since 3600 s=1 hr >> 3600 s/1 hr =1 and 1 hr /3600 s =1

Note that in this example, not only are the units raised to a power, but the
associated numbers also are raised to the same power.
b. 100 Btu
Since 1 Btu =3.93 x 10-4 hp-hr >>
3.93 x 10-4 hp-hr/ 1 Btu=1 and 1 Btu/ 3.93 x 10-4 hp-hr=1 =1
 The Principle of Dimensional
Homogeneity
• apples + oranges=? In any equation:

• Every valid equation must be dimensionally

consistent.
• Each term in the equation must have the same net
dimensions and units as every other term to which it
is added, subtracted, or equated.
• Dimensional consistency of an equation:
*dimensions of left term = dimensions right term.
For example:
A + B = C – DE

If A has a dimension of L3, then

1. B must have a dimension of L3 since it is added to

A.

2. (A + B) has a net dimension of L3.

3. (C – DE) must have a net dimension of L3

4. C and DE have a dimension of L3.

The Principle of Dimensional Homogeneity also extends
to units.

Units can always be multiplied or divided

The Principle of Dimensional Homogeneity is useful

when checking the algebra of a problem solution-
algebraic error!

The best way to avoid unit errors is to list the units

along with any numbers supplied to an equation.
 Examples:
Add the following :
(a) 1 foot + 3 seconds
(b) 1 hp + 300 watts

Solution
The operation indicated by
1ft+3s
has no meaning since the dimensions of the two terms are not the same.
One foot has the dimensions of length , whereas 3 seconds has the
dimensions of time .

In the case of 1 hp + 300 watts

the dimensions are the same (energy per unit time) but the units are
different. the two quantities must be transformed into like units, such as
horsepower, watts, or something else, before the addition can be carried
out. Since 1 hp = 746 watts,
746 watts + 300 watts = 1046 watts
 Application: Consider following examples;
in Van der waals eqn:

e.g.
b must have the same

In this equation:

•
•Convert the relation so that d becomes expressed in inches and t can be used in minutes.

Solution
Both values of 16.2 must have the units of microns. The exponential must be dimensionless
so that 0.021 must have the units of 1/seconds.
 ASSSIGNMENTS
Q1

Q2
3.

4. Consider the following equation of motion:

D (ft) = 3 t(s) – 4
Derive an equivalent equation for distance in meters and
time in minutes.